Season Predictions

[khokhol8]

Now that some (attendance was quite low) have been able to see this season's team play, what is your season prediction. Granted 2 main players did not play in the exhibition games but you did get a sense for what kind of on court coach Menzies is and a taste for the new guys.

Please vote in the poll and also leave a comment on how you feel the season will go.

My prediction: HCMM seems to be a great on court coach the way he is constantly "coaching" guys as they come off the floor. There was a glaring problem with defense the 1st game that HCMM addressed and the "D" was much better the second game which is a sign of a good coach. This team is more athletic than I realized. They are more athletic than some of Lon Kruger's teams that were successful. Those teams were back in the day when everyone would say "If only we could get some good recruits to go along with our amazing coach." Then we had amazing recruits and poor coaching. I believe we will have both moving forward and this will an eye opening 1st year.

I am predicting 19 wins and a 3rd place conference finish.

 

[Doubleyew]

14 wins. Their schedule is absolutely brutal this year. They should start off strong, but half way through the non-con and it's gonna go downhill fast.

 

[UNLVfan81]

I wanted to say 21-25 but I ended up tapering down my expectations to 16-20 wins. I still have not seen them play a division 1 team yet so it is very hard to gauge how good they could be.

I was listening to the coaches show last night and everytime I hear Marvin Menzies in an interview he impresses me a little more. He doesn't dodge any questions and instead of giving you a boilerplate answer (like DR used to) he gives you an in depth answer with examples either from our players and games or previous teams he has coached.

He is always quick to point out where they need work and usually explains how it can be fixed.

 

[UNLVAlumni]

His assistant coaches are the same. They don't duck questions and they flat out say what the problems are and what they need to work on. I predict 17-18 wins. I like what I see so far. Of course we have yet to play a D1 team but we do have athletes for sure. And the depth is much better than I could have ever imagined with the very shortened recruiting period.

I guess Friday will show us a lot of where the team is against a real opponent.

 

[khokhol8]

I just went through each game of the schedule and it is brutally tough. I have them at 7-5 for the nonconference season and 10-10 when I pick each game. I still stand by my prediction that they get to 19 wins though as I feel HCMM will get them a couple unexpected wins.

 

[MonsterJam]

I took a glass half-empty approach and said 11-15, though I think its like exactly 15. Not worried about this year - just going to enjoy the show.

 

[REBin2011]

Anything over 15 would be a sign of great improvement as they get into the conference season, figuring they have 6 or 7 OOC wins.

 

[BleedzRebelRed]

Not sure if S. Alabama should be considered real competition (Maybe for us)?
But I'm gonna say a 20 win season and at least reaching the simi-finals of the MW tourney! Good luck boys give em hell this year!!
R€B€L$ B!@TcH€$!!!

 

[ThailandReb]

Despite the huge improvement on Menzies' replies to questions compared to the robotic, bland, packaged Mcanswers Mr. Rice delivered, and his admirable work putting a team together in the hole he found himself in upon taking the job, I still remember that this is the dude nobody at all in the entire country wanted, which is why he languished in Las Cruces, New Mexico for a solid decade. I still remember that he has never come close to sniffing an NCAA win despite being a HC for awhile now. I still remember how he was our very last choice... of all candidates, he was the one everyone wanted the least. He is now our HC and I am rooting for him big-time, but I haven't forgotten all of which I just mentioned.

This and the fact it will take time for this team and coaching staff to come together to click, I pick them to win 11-13 games this year. Hope they prove me wrong, once again I will be rooting for them!...

 

[UNLVAlumni]

I agree with what you say but recruiting talent to UNLV is a few notches above recruiting to Las Cruces. What I mean is he still won their conference. I think he really is a good coach but when his teams went into the NCAA Tournament his teams were overmatched. Give him some time here and I think he can get it done. But yes I do wear scarlet and grey glasses.

 

[IndianaRebel]

Despite the huge improvement on Menzies' replies to questions compared to the robotic, bland, packaged Mcanswers Mr. Rice delivered, and his admirable work putting a team together in the hole he found himself in upon taking the job, I still remember that this is the dude nobody at all in the entire country wanted, which is why he languished in Las Cruces, New Mexico for a solid decade. I still remember that he has never come close to sniffing an NCAA win despite being a HC for awhile now. I still remember how he was our very last choice... of all candidates, he was the one everyone wanted the least. He is now our HC and I am rooting for him big-time, but I haven't forgotten all of which I just mentioned.

This and the fact it will take time for this team and coaching staff to come together to click, I pick them to win 11-13 games this year. Hope they prove me wrong, once again I will be rooting for them!...

Just checked and in 2010 NCAA Tourney, New Mexico State only lost to Michigan State by 3, 70-67. That same year Michigan State went to the Final Four and lost to Butler. I'd say that is close to sniffing a win against one of the best coaches in College Basketball, Tom Izzo, with one of his better teams. Just saying...

 

[IndianaRebel]

Despite the huge improvement on Menzies' replies to questions compared to the robotic, bland, packaged Mcanswers Mr. Rice delivered, and his admirable work putting a team together in the hole he found himself in upon taking the job, I still remember that this is the dude nobody at all in the entire country wanted, which is why he languished in Las Cruces, New Mexico for a solid decade. I still remember that he has never come close to sniffing an NCAA win despite being a HC for awhile now. I still remember how he was our very last choice... of all candidates, he was the one everyone wanted the least. He is now our HC and I am rooting for him big-time, but I haven't forgotten all of which I just mentioned.

This and the fact it will take time for this team and coaching staff to come together to click, I pick them to win 11-13 games this year. Hope they prove me wrong, once again I will be rooting for them!...

In 2014 NMST lost to 4-seed SDSU, 73-69. Again, a sniff.

 

[dcut03]

People want to knock CMM for not getting a Tourney win, but it is tough coming out of the WAC. It's hard to recruit to Las Cruces, it's a bad league, so they got some tough seeds.

Sure he didn't win any of those, but he had some valiant efforts. Remember our appearances under our last 2 regimes, being embarrassed as the upper seed?

 

[ThailandReb]

Just checked and in 2010 NCAA Tourney, New Mexico State only lost to Michigan State by 3, 70-67. That same year Michigan State went to the Final Four and lost to Butler. I'd say that is close to sniffing a win against one of the best coaches in College Basketball, Tom Izzo, with one of his better teams. Just saying...

People want to knock CMM for not getting a Tourney win, but it is tough coming out of the WAC. It's hard to recruit to Las Cruces, it's a bad league, so they got some tough seeds.

Sure he didn't win any of those, but he had some valiant efforts. Remember our appearances under our last 2 regimes, being embarrassed as the upper seed?

You are right... what can I say I forgot about those close losses. That is impressive he came close vs. those powerhouses, and I realize how hard it would be for a WAC team to win a game, especially with the seeds they get. Still, low-conference teams win games all the time in the tourney, and the fact remains that he's been a coach for a long time and never won an NCAA game. Very rarely do you have examples of coaches who go so long without any NCAA wins, who then suddenly start winning them.

I do agree with the majority (and basic common sense) that at UNLV, with our fanbase, tradition, facilities, elevated conference (though that's not saying much), etc.... in time he will be able to put together much more talented teams than he had in Las Cruces, and will possibly, maybe even likely, be able to take his career norms up a big notch.